I did a scouting trip this morning for tomorrow's Christmas Count -- Gerry
Hawkins and I do the same subsector of Sector 5 in DC. A Mute Swan was near
the south end of Roosevelt Island across from mile marker 17. I met Gerry
later at LBJ Grove and he told me about the American Redstart and
Orange-crowned Warbler. After Gerry left, I relocated the female redstart,
and she came down relatively close and spread her tail at me a few times. I
did not see the Orange-crowned Warbler, but I did see a Pine Warbler. I
also saw both kinglets and a pair of Black Ducks.
According to the Virginia Gold Book, the only three winter records for
redstarts in the Virginia coastal plain have been 12/23/78 on the Fort
Belvoir CBC, 12/22/79 on the Fort Belvoir CBC, and 12/20/98 on the Hopewell
CBC. I have not checked if there have been any winter records since the
book was published in 2007.
Bill Young
Arlington, VA
